Juventus and Italy playmaker and Inter's Zanetti help up as examples of how long players can continue at top level in a midfield diamond's deepest role

Back to the future: Rodgers reckons playing deeper will help Gerrard play for longer

Brendan Rodgers believes Steven Gerrard can pull off an Italian job... and play until he’s 40.

Liverpool manager Rodgers reckons his veteran skipper can follow the example of Serie A greats Javier Zanetti and Andrea Pirlo and adapt his role in the middle of the park to extend his career.

Argentine Zanetti has stunned the football world by recovering from a crippling Achilles tendon injury to play for Inter Milan at the age of 40.

And Pirlo, whose 35th birthday is fast approaching, was recently voted Italy’s player of the year and elected into UEFA’s hall of fame.

Both have capitalised on switches to a holding role at the base of a midfield diamond - a position Gerrard has adopted in recent games for the Reds with increasing success - and Rodgers is backing his captain to be so successful in the new position he can emulate Pirlo.

“Maybe he wasn’t ready to do it 18 months ago because he had so much to his game, but it is a position that I know excites him now,” he explained.

“Tactically, once he does more work on when to become the third man dropping in or pushing on, he’s got a great chance of playing that role to the level of a Pirlo or a Javier Zanetti. They are doing it late in their 30s - Zanetti is 40 - and because of the way Stevie looks after himself, that is a position he can play for sure.

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“It’s not a case of putting him back into that role because he’s Steven Gerrard - it’s because I think he’s got the qualities to play and operate in that position at a very high level.”

Gerrard will turn 34 in May, and many assume his days at the very highest level are numbered, with next summer's World Cup in Brazil seen as his final flourish.

But at that same age, Pirlo was masterminding Italy’s Euro 2012 triumph over England, cementing his place in the tournament's all-star XI with that cheeky penalty shoot-out chip.

And Zanetti defied the advancing years by fighting back from an injury that would have seen off much younger men, to not only come back last month for Inter, but inspire a derby victory over their arch-rivals AC Milan to further enhance his legend.

For Rodgers, Gerrard has all the characteristics to fulfil a similar role for club and country and he is looking to slowly integrate him into the position to ensure the Reds' talismanic captain carries on for several more years.

“I always look at every player not only in terms of their favourite position but where else we can prolong them, and that applies especially to older players,” he explained.

“Everything about Steven’s game fits with that controlling player, from how he co-ordinates a team with the ball and his range of passing, which is still at a top level.

“He is a world class dead-ball specialist and physically, in that role where you need to move from side-to-side to block spaces, he has shown he has that as well. Plus, he’s got the range to open up a game short and long.”

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Not that Gerrard is ready for the bath-chair just yet.

He has still been used in an advanced role this season, posting impressive stats that rival any midfielder in the Premier League (Gerrard tops the list for passing accuracy and possession, and is close to the top in terms of assists and creating chances), and Rodgers wants to get the best out of him for much longer.

“He’s a world class operator at the top end of the field and still has the moments when he can affect that,” he added. “But where his role was very much about creating and scoring goals, he has seen the development of the team in terms of the numbers scored and there is not the reliance on him for that.

“He has other big qualities that can really help the team and help his career as well. You will still get that flurry from him where he can go on and shoot.”